yhcdn.net

Snap Shots of the case studies

1. Talking Our Language
A case study of a Community Development approach to raising mental health awareness within Pakistani and Chinese communities.
It resulted in:

• Changes to the professionals perceptions of these communities
• A greater awareness of different views of health from both the communities and the professionals
• The impact of short training programmes designed by communities for communities
• Recognising and building upon the skills and knowledge within communities
• The development of a model for co-production which can be adopted by others
• Increase in human capital, social capital and improved public services

2. Creating a model for commissioning of health services to Black and Ethnic minority communities
A case study of using Community Development practitioners to bring commissioners of services and service users group.
This resulted in

•    Involvement by a wide range of different BME communities in designing mental health services
•     A greater understanding of different community and cultural expressions of health and illness by professionals and different community groups
•    A greater understanding of the ways the different parties identified, described and evaluated needI
•    Improved working between the parties and the development of new ways to evaluate the effectiveness of service delivery from the point of view of service users
•    The rolling out of community focussed commissioning in other services
•    Increase in human capital, social capital and improved public services.

3. Parents influencing the design and delivery of services for children with additional needs
A case study of a Community Development approach to supporting and empowering parents to make effective contributions into the design and delivery of services.
This resulted in

• An effective group of parents with the skills and knowledge to contribute to strategic planning and decision-making processes
• The development of an improved system for joint working based which respected the skills and expertise of parents, recognised power issues, and enabled them to contribute more effectively
• The development of an effective training programme to increase the skills of parents and their groups organisational processes
• Greater involvement by a wider range of parents in planning for the needs of their children
• Greater involvement of parents in wider neighbourhood and community organisations
• Increase in human capital, social capital and improved public services.

4. ‘Flying Angels’ promote cohesion within fragmented communities
A case study of a Community Development approach which took a very simple idea and used it to great effect to bring together communities who traditionally did not meet or work together.
This resulted in

• People from different communities becoming involved in the preparatory activities leading up to the main event
• People of all ages who did not normally become engaged in community activities joining in
•  Creative use of existing resources within the community, and bringing in additional resources from private sector firms and public bodies
• A raised profile for the area which was positive rather than negative
• People feeling safer in their communities at night
• People looking up and feeling better about their area
• Greater understanding of the need for community ownership to build on such success
• Increase in human capital, social capital and an improved environment services

5. Tackling poverty and deprivation through a community run Drop in Centre
A case study of a Community Development approach in a neighbourhood that had its expectations raised about economic regeneration but has been left to cope with the resulting blight. 
This has resulted in

• An initiative started by and run by local people to tackle the circumstances in which they find themselves
• Funding being secured to take on some of the empty properties and develop them to meet local needs and to generate income for the organisation. 
• A pool of enthusiastic volunteers who are active in many different community based projects
• Increased income for individuals and families through access to benefit and people gaining employment
• Local people of all ages developing the skills to manage the various community projects
• Increased engagement with statutory bodies over plans for the area
• Increase in financial assets, human capital, social capital and improved physical environment

6. Regenerating communities using Community Led Planning
A case study about a Community Development approach to engaging communities in planning for their futures.
This resulted in:-

• People from all different sections of a village being drawn into the planning for their future and their existing resources and skills being utilised and enhanced
• People identifying the key issues for their community and gathering information on how these might be resolved
• Greater involvement of Parish and District councillors with their constituents and partnership work between communities and local government staff
• Funding being brought into the community
•  A credible action plan that could be used by councils in planning and prioritising resource allocation
• Increase in financial assets, human capital, social capital and improved pubic service

7. Building a sustainable community association
A case study about a Community Development approach to strengthening the management committee of an existing community centre.
This resulted in:-

•    An improved and more sustainable and viable community centre
•    More community groups and activities taking place for younger and older people
•    Funding being brought into the community
•    A training programme designed to meet the specific needs of community members to become trustees of community property
•    Young people actively involved in a locally organised consultation process
•    Greater community involvement in partnerships and contributing to local councils polishes and strategies
•     Increase in financial assets, human capital, social capital and improved community facilities

8. Supporting people into employment, education or training through the Tyne Gateway Community Entrepreneurs
A case study about a Community Development approach to assist unemployed people in deprived areas to access employment, education or training
This resulted in:

•    40 parents/carers of children participated on the Awareness Raising Course with 20 parents becoming Community Entrepreneurs.  19 of these are currently in post and one has gone on to commence training to become a teacher 
•    625 people had been consulted about the Community Entrepreneur projects and 269 of these had been followed up with further contact from the Community Entrepreneurs
• 79 parents have engaged further with the Community Entrepreneurs s (signposting to other services, enrolling on courses)
•    increased employability of parents and their wellbeing (developed skills and confidence)
•  increased the wellbeing of their families (being better off, happier, more secure and engaged with services)
•    increased the wellbeing of the children of Community Entrepreneurs (attainment and attendance at school, health and engagement with services)
•    built capacity to address child poverty (structural and processes change, organizational capacity and engagement and community capacity)

9. Employing local people as Community Development practitioners to support regeneration of a city, the Newcastle New Deal for Communities: Community Regeneration Team
This resulted in:-

•    The local people employed quickly became a respected and valued first port of call for residents and community groups, responding effectively to queries, issues and problems
•    Support provided for 78 existing community groups and 31 new ones helped into existence with 410 residents becoming engaged in community organisations for the first time
•    Training and support to individuals and group on business planning and funding bids, making meetings more effective and improving event organisation.
•    116 consultation exercises planned and carried out which engaged many different parts of communities and people who had never responded before
•    Capacity building of all sections of the community and putting appropriate mechanisms in place to enable more residents to take the lead in developing and improving the community
•     More people in training and employment, and residents supported to access personal capacity building opportunities, accessing jobs and training leading to qualifications 
•    £322,360 raised on behalf of community groups or voluntary organisations which contributed significantly to their capacity and strength.